Rocky Road
by Radetszky
Summary: Through the centuries, Arthur has learned many things. Most of them he wishes he'd never had to. Gen, dark, character focused, and Arthur-centric.
1. Beginnings

Title: Rocky Road

Author: Segsworth

Pairings: none

Warnings: darkness, war, murder, and lots of historical nastiness

A/N: This is the first in a series about 36 parts long. It's kind of an examination of Arthur. Other than that, I hope everyone enjoys. :3

* * *

Arthur didn't remember the day he was born. It was like he'd just appeared one day, and Mother had never said a thing about it, so for years he'd assumed that they just **were**. Which was true in a way, but missed the point of being a Nation completely.

Mother was the fixture of his life. When she sang, he listened; when she danced, he watched. He was mesmerized by her actions. He'd never been able to find the difference between her and the fairies, and even now he wondered if there had ever been. Maybe the reason, he would muse, the fairies stayed was because he was a changeling, a small fairy child among Nations. He never asked them.

One day, after an unchanging lifetime, she sat down in front of him. She no longer danced or sung, had not for many days. "Child," she asked, because neither of them had names then, nor wanted one. "Could you live with the fairies alone?"

He hesitated before speaking. " I could," he said, confused. "But who would sing and dance?"

"You could," she soothed.

"Would you be back?"

"Maybe," she said with a smile. It was a strange smile, lopsided and sad. Arthur didn't like it. "I have to go now." Arthur would have said no, but he'd never argued with people before. So she left soon after, and Arthur never saw her again.

It was the first lesson he ever learned, and it was that eventually, everyone would leave you.


	2. Control

_Control your own destiny, or someone else will._

-Jack Welch

* * *

It was years later that Arthur left the forest, giving up on waiting. He took to roaming. He met other fairies and people and creatures, and was fascinated by them all. No matter where he went, though, there was no trace of his Mother. More years passed, and he stopped caring. It wasn't that it stopped hurting, but it was that the forest dulled in his mind, like it was no longer real.

He headed further south as time moved on. He encountered people from all over, speaking all sorts of languages. He didn't know them all. He knew very few of them, in fact. But he took the time to learn them, though he left before they noticed he grew slowly, remaining young.

One day, he walked along a road he'd found, intrigued as to where it led. It was a long road, and it took him a week of walking before he reached a town. It was a strange town, surrounded by walls and guards, and he walked to the gate. It looked nothing like he'd ever seen before.

"Hello," he said and the guard gave him a sharp look. The guard said something in a sharp language, and Arthur blinked. "Um..." The guard seemed to curse and head back inside. Arthur trailed after him for a moment, but an angry gesture stopped him in his tracks. It was several minutes later that the guard stepped out, followed by another man. Arthur's nose wrinkled. Their clothing was strange and foreign, and he felt awkward. There was something wrong.

"Where are you from?" demanded the new man. He was tall and well-built, his nose like a beak.

"North," he said. He didn't know where. It'd never occurred to him to ever have to use a map or ask where he was at any point in his life.

"Iceni?" His accent was heavy, dragging down the words.

"Yes," Arthur decided. "Iceni." He'd spent some time with them, so he supposed he could pass. The man turned to the guard and spat out something in the strange language. They got into a slight fight before the guard seemed to capitulate.

"In," what Arthur assumed to be an officer grunted. He hastily followed after them, looking at the tall gate doors as they swung back closed at their passage. "Off you go." The officer shooed him off, and Arthur began to walk around the town. The first thing he realized was how wealthy these people were. Exotic goods were everywhere, and the clothing they wore was much finer than his. He didn't feel shame, but he felt a pounding curiousity. Who were these people in his land?

Every person he came by, he tried to talk to, but none of them spoke any language but that strange sharp one. After an hour of wandering the giant town, he sat down on some benches that soldiers were sitting on. He sat a distance away, but he watched them talk and gesture to each other. Every little bit, they'd explode into laughter, and every time Arthur wished he could speak their language. Maybe he could get one of them to help teach him a bit? He liked to learn.

It was during one of the lulls that the soldiers finally noticed Arthur watching. One of them, a man built like a bear, gestured and the a couple others stood and began making their way to him. Arthur just sat there as one of them shouted something that made the others laugh. The big man asked him something, but all Arthur could do was shake his head.

"I'm sorry," he said. "I don't know what you're saying." That earned some looks of confusion, and one of them men made a strange gesture as he spoke rapidly. Arthur's lips quirked into a smile at the moving hands.

"_Quid rides_?" one of them demanded. He looked angry, and Arthur tried to smooth things over. His hands moved in a placating gesture, and he spoke soothingly.

"I don't know what you're saying." The man leaned in closer and spat on him. Arthur jumped off the bench, backpedaling. "I'm sorry," he said, moving away from them. They crowded in on him, and he backed up further. Each step they took, he took one back, at least until he reached the wall. His back hit stone, and he came to a halt. One of them shoved at him, laughing and saying something. Arthur slammed into the wall, and he shrunk back. "I'm sorry."

Arthur cringed, and someone yelled from behind the group. They scattered, darting away from him, and Arthur watched as a tall man with brown hair strode forward. He didn't say anything else to the group, but they fled back to their tables. Arthur didn't wait around to find out what was going on- he turned tail and fled to the gate.

"_Quo vadis_?" shouted the man, following him. "Hold on-" Arthur stopped in his tracks. He whirled around, staring at the man.

"You understand me," he blurted out. The older man grinned.

"So you're from Britannia! I should have known. You from the North?"

Arthur nodded. "Iceni." It was a comfortable lie.

The man nodded genially. "I'm sorry about the others. They don't like the tribes." The man shrugged, as though this wasn't a big deal, which it happened to be for Arthur. How could you just dislike someone like that? He felt uncomfortable around these people. It felt like they were from another world entirely. "Your name? I'm Cicero."

"Artorius," he said, for at that time the name Arthur had yet to exist. The man blinked.

"That's Roman," he said, confused. "I thought you didn't speak Latin?"

"I don't. My mother gave it to me." Arthur said. The other man contemplated him for a moment. They were silent for a moment as Cicero examined his clothing and person, and Arthur couldn't help but feel awkward. Who were these people? What were they doing here? They were questions he had no answer to.

"You're Britannia, aren't you? I knew your mother." Arthur froze at this. He wasn't sure what Britannia was, but the word felt warm and calming. It fit him, so he nodded, dazed.

"Who are you, then?"

"Rome. Your mother's dead," the man said casually. Arthur's stomach twisted, and he knew Rome had killed her. "But you're mine. You're Britannia, a land of my Empire."

"You don't belong here," Arthur said. The strangeness had a name now- Rome. It didn't belong here. He didn't need to know the Empire to hate it. He wasn't supposed to belong to anyone.

"You're part of me. It doesn't matter what you think," Rome said with a shrug. He was still smiling. "Your mother fought, and she died. I've been waiting for you ever since, Artorius." He stepped forward to touch Arthur, and the teen stayed where he was. He knew there wouldn't be any escape from this town.


End file.
